Chapter 20: Chapter 20: 9A2-C-8

In the wider galaxy, the planet designed as 9A2-C-8 was just an ordinary world. When the first settlers found their way to this world centuries ago, the first thing they did was perform a thorough scan of the planet. There wasn’t anything truly valuable about the planet. It wasn’t one of the few worlds that once belonged to any of the many xeno legacy races whose technologies have played a main role in humanity’s prosperity for the last centuries. There weren't enough valuable resources or minerals around this planet that would justify constructing manufacturing centers or orbital shipyards on or around this planet. In the end, the settlers terraformed the world to make it suitable for human life before colonizing the entire planet. It became just another one of the endless ordinary colonies in the galaxy.

Hundreds of years went by, and generations of people lived and died on 9A2-C-8. The world itself was conquered again and again as different empires fought for control over territories in the galaxy. Given the lack of importance of 9A2-C-8, it was never the primary target of any invading force. No attacker would deploy significant forces to take the world, and no defender would bother with trying too hard to defend it. Often, the planet surrendered to whichever fleet had taken control of the entire system or even sector. Its name was changed again and again, often by those who just took over the world and wanted to leave their own markings on their new prize.

As underwhelming as the planet’s history was, this was one of the main reasons the planet and its environment and population have survived for so long. Many key worlds with high strategic value were often fought over by entire armadas and tragically saw their environments destroyed by orbital bombardments or other attempts at victory. Sometimes, being normal was a blessing.

In the year 2783, 9A2-C-8 was one of the hundreds of populated planets in Imperial Sector 9A2. It has been under Imperial authority for the last 89 years. Like all other worlds in Sector 9A2, the planet was under the direct rule of Lord Vitz. The world alone had a population of 15 billion people, a number not too impressive for the planet’s size by the standards of the 28th century. It has raised and currently maintains over 4,000 armored, mechanized, and infantry divisions as part of the 9th Sector Force of the Imperial Army. When they weren’t deployed on missions, these divisions remained in their respective military bases on their homeworld.

One of these divisions was the 329th Infantry Division. Athena, Captain Hanson, and almost all the troops and officers from the 329th Infantry were born on 9A2-C-8.

After jumping the Gazelle-class shuttle back to the orbit of 9A2-C-8 and thankfully avoiding a warp jump accident in the process, Corporal Kendrick made a few calls on his comms before being escorted toward the planet by two squadrons of Rattlesnake-class starfighters from the local Planetary Defense Fleet. The shuttle safely went through the planet’s atmosphere before landing in one of the numerous Imperial airbases on the planet.

At long last, they were finally home. Yet Athena and her fellow troopers weren’t welcomed with roses and cheers. Far from it, in fact.

When the shuttle door opened, the Wolves and Doctor Payton were the first to leave the shuttle, and they did so without saying a word to the others. As they were out and Athena and the other troopers from the 432nd Company tried to follow them, they found themselves staring at a line of Defender rifles, held by troopers in Guardian-class power armors with special colors that identified them as Military Police.

Military Police units in the Imperial Army were tasked with maintaining discipline and loyalty within units. They usually reported directly to the Imperial Army Formations which managed and oversaw all Imperial Army units on a planet. In a sense, their role was similar to the Wolves of the Imperial Security Corps. The main difference was that the Wolves had much more power. The Wolves were permitted to take extreme measures such as executing officers if the need arose as long as they reported to their superiors later regarding their reasons. Military Police units could only imprison, interrogate, and possibly execute troopers, NCOs, and at most low-ranking officers.

Athena offered no resistance as the MPs seized her and the other survivors and took them into custody. She knew this was basically the standard Imperial protocol for circumstances like this. One-third to half of her company was corrupted by rebels of unknown origin. How could the Imperials know she and the other survivors were in the other half to two-thirds of loyalists? In a sense, being detained and interrogated was good. If she was allowed to leave this base without anyone asking any questions, it wouldn’t be because the higher-ups were feeling lenient. It would be due to the fact that her loyalty no longer mattered because she would be dead soon anyways.

Hopefully, after making his report to his superiors, Corporal Kendrick would remember the loyal private who informed him of this treachery and was lucky enough to survive until now. As far as she could see, the corporal did indeed care about the lives of loyal citizens and soldiers of the Imperium. And she, Athena, was definitely loyal. Why else would she expose the plans of the Venya Revolutionary Guard?

Athena knew all too well that trying to fight her way off this world would be beyond stupid. If she was taken to another remote military base or space station, she might try to put up a fight. But here? She didn't stand a chance to fight her way out of here.

This wasn’t Morgo IV where the Imperial presence on the planet was limited to over three hundred men divided into two factions. This was an Imperial world with way too many defenders. It might just be an ordinary planet with little strategic value to a major faction like the United Republic of Dorn, but Sector 9A2 itself was on the border of the Imperium, and Lord Vitz was known for being extremely militaristic. He, along with his father and grandfather when they were alive, maintained significant garrison armies and fleets in addition to the standard Imperial Army units and Battlefleet Silver Lance.

9A2-C-8 was no different. Even if it might not have any main strategic value, Lord Vitz still wanted to make sure anyone who tried to seize it would pay a dear price in the process.

First, there was the Planetary Defense Fleet, which as far as she recalled had 32 capital ships and numerous escorts. Then there was the Planetary Security Forces, which numbered in the hundreds of millions and were tasked with protecting the planet from assault from all fronts, internal and external. Granted, they weren't known for their quality or morale, but they still had the numbers to defend the entire planet from any invading force that tried to land on the world.

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There were thousands of Imperial Army divisions as a part of the 34th Imperial Army Formation, of course. The ISC garrison on the planet. Maybe even ISA strike teams. Oh, and in addition to all that, 5% of the planet’s population have undergone basic military and weapons training and were classified as reservists. That was nearly half a billion reservists in total. If the situation required, the planetary government could call upon them and end up with nearly fifteen thousand more divisions of average quality.

And what did she have? Zerglings? Marines? Ever since the shuttle jumped away from Morgo IV, Athena was no longer about to receive resources from the zerg base on the planet’s surface. The distance was just too far. She still had several thousand units of resources left, but nowhere near enough to challenge even a single division of Imperial troops.

Plus, without an established base, she could only build 200 supplies for each race. Ignoring the protoss units she still had no idea how to unlock, that was at most 200 marines and 400 zerglings. What could she do with such a tiny force?

9A2-C-8 might be an easy target for a Republic fleet or a Salin Empire armada, but for Athena? It was a whole different story.

Despite what she thought about this tyrannical, horrible Imperium, she had to lay low for now. Given enough time and space, she was confident she could unlock armies and fleets that could topple the entire Venya Imperium, but for now, she had to play the role of a loyal Imperial soldier.

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This time, Athena was tossed into a much more refined detention facility. For a full week, no one came to see or talk to her. There weren’t even any fellow prisoners she could talk to. Causing some chaos and breaking out of the cell like she was in an action movie would be beyond delusional. As far as she knew, her cell seemed to be the only one in the area. The only interaction she had was when the guards brought food and water to her. It was complete solitary confinement. If Athena didn't have the chance to go into the game whenever she wanted to explore the units and chat with Nova, she might have gone insane already.

Even with the chance to talk to Nova, after so many days, Athena was getting a little anxious. After the rapid pace of things in Research Outpost Delta where many things were happening at the same time and every second was precious, the boredom of the past week has been getting to her.

“Commander, think about it this way. If they are keeping you here for this long, then that means you still have value to them. Otherwise, you will probably have been shot already. There’s no need to waste food and space for a likely traitor.” This was how Nova comforted Athena one day when she voiced her concerns to the advisor.

“Maybe. Or maybe they just forgot about me.”

“That’s unlikely,” Nova reassured Athena. “Put some trust in the corporal, commander. He is not the type of person to overstate his own achievements in combat by hiding the contribution of others. Remember what prompted him to come to see you in the detention center on Morgo IV? As long as you don’t give him reasons to think you are a rebel, he will fight on your behalf. After all, you are a valuable asset of the Imperium, and wasting an asset like you is detrimental to the Imperium as a whole.”

Athena nodded as she randomly clicked on the few things that were available to her in the game. The hatchery. The nexus. The command center. She tapped on the tech lab attached to the barracks and, like countless times before, glanced over the three upgrades available inside. Stimpack. Combat Shield. Concussive Shells. She could afford to research all three upgrades now, but she decided against it. She preferred to see which threat she would be facing before starting the upgrades. Ultimately, her resources were still quite limited.

After a few minutes in the game, Athena sighed and returned to her cell. She quietly laid on her back on the bed in the cell and glanced at the security camera pointing right at her. From the angle of the camera, it could see everything in the cell, leaving no room for privacy. Athena scoffed. If this was happening back on Earth and word about it got out, a lot of people would be up in arms, but she was no longer on Earth where ethics and morality still held weight. She was in a new, cruel galaxy where the only thing that held weight was power. Have a fleet strong enough to support you, and you could be a god, worshiped by trillions. Be a champion for justice without military might, and a paid thug could be your end. And if the one behind your murder was strong or rich enough, no one would do a thing to bring them to justice.

Hmmm…now that she thought about it, it wasn’t completely different from Earth. Perhaps the main difference was that advances in technology made it much more difficult for things like revolutions to occur successfully.

The sound of the detention center’s door opening distracted her from her thoughts. At long last, for better or for worse, someone finally remembered she was still here.

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